The Internet, sometimes called simply “the Net,” is a worldwide system of computer networks in which a client at any one computer may, with permission, obtain information from any other computer. The most widely used part of the Internet is the World Wide Web, often abbreviated “WWW,” which is commonly referred to as “the web.” The web may be defined as all the resources (e.g., web pages and web sites) and users on the Internet that use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or variations thereof to access the resources. A web site is a related collection of web files that includes a beginning file called a home page. From the home page, the user may navigate to other web pages on the web site. A web server program is a program that, using the client/server model and HTTP, serves the files that form the web pages of a web site to the web users, whose computers contain HTTP client programs (e.g., web browsers) that forward requests and display responses. A web server program may host one or more web sites.
Various applications of the Internet, and of the web, involve marketplaces that provide goods and/or services for sale. For instance, consumers may visit a merchant's website to view and/or purchase goods and services offered for sale by the merchant (and/or third party merchants). Some network-based marketplaces (e.g., Internet- or web-based marketplaces) include large electronic catalogues of items offered for sale. For each item offered for sale, such electronic catalogues typically include product detail pages (e.g., a web page) that specifies various information about the item, such as a description of the item, one or more pictures of the item, as well as specifications (e.g., weight, dimensions, capabilities) of the item. In some cases, merchants (e.g., suppliers of products offered for sale via the network-based marketplace) may provide data from which such product detail pages may be generated. In some cases, the data provided by a merchant may be organized in a structured fashion. For instance, the data provided by the merchant may include a list of attributes (e.g., weight, dimensions, color, model number, and other attributes) as well as values for such attributes. In other cases, the data provided by a merchant may be relatively unstructured. For instance, such data may be an unformatted text description of the item.
While the method and system for determining sets of variant items is described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and system for determining sets of variant items is not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the method and system for determining sets of variant items to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the method and system for determining sets of variant items as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.